


Mockingbirds and Hot Chocolate

by LancelotOfTheRevolutionarySet



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Angst, As if being president was not enough, Childhood Friends, E-N-C-Y-C-L-O-P-A-E-D-I-A, Friendship/Love, Hamilton References, Hot Chocolate, I'm Sorry, James Madison is always sick, James has to get married, Kissing, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Thomas has too many hobbies, encyclopaedia, jeffmads - Freeform, mockingbirds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29605335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LancelotOfTheRevolutionarySet/pseuds/LancelotOfTheRevolutionarySet
Summary: James Madison has been in love with his best friend for as long as he can remember. After years waiting for him, he's finally ready to love again and get married to Dolley. That's when Thomas realises he's been blind to the best thing in his life.
Relationships: Thomas Jefferson/James Madison
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Mockingbirds and Hot Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

> Hey sweetie pies! ♡ I've started writing some one-shot stories on Wattpad and I've decided to publish some of them here as well. They are kinda "commissioned" stories since the readers can ask for a specific couple and a setting (like canon era, modern, college, etc.) and I'll write them! If you want to ask for a story find me on Wattpad (@HardRockLikeLancelot).
> 
> This is the third one, I was asked to write some JeffMads (+ angst) and I LOVE to write this kind of stuff so... enjoy! ♡♡

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon of July. The sky was covered with a misty veil of clouds and the air was so hot and sticky it was almost difficult to breathe. People were gathering in the small church in the southern part of the city, leaving the children to play in the park nearby, looked at by their elder siblings. Several kids were playing hide-and-seek, some of them were dangerously climbing the big oak tree that was in the exact centre of the park, while the more responsible ones were sitting and chatting on the park benches. One particular kid, a very short and sickish boy, stood out from the little crowd: he was peacefully laying on the grass on his belly, his little chubby legs swinging back and forth, and a huge book open in front of him. He was reading in a very absorbed way – a very serious frown on his childish face and his lips silently muttering every word – while keeping trace of the right line with his tiny index finger.

“Hey.”

The kid ignored the voice that was calling him – he’d already learned that if he ignored them long enough, the other children usually left him alone. He suddenly felt someone gently pocking him on the back with a stick.

“Heeeeey!”

“What do you want?” he groaned and raised his eyes from his book to look at the funniest little child he’d ever seen – his curly hair was so big it seemed that his head was three times bigger than the rest of his slender body.

“Wanna play swords?”

“No, thank you.”

“What are you reading?”

“It’s called encyclopaedia.”

“Do you know how to spell that?”

“Of course.”

“Then do it, if you spell it wrong you have to play swords with me though.”

“E – N – C – Y – L – O – P …” the other boy seemed not to know the right spelling as well, “E – I – A – D – I – A.”

“Did you spell it right?”

“Of course I did.”

“Oh, ok,” the tall boy seemed upset, “can I read with you at least?”

“I don’t know –

“What’s your name?”

“I’m James, and you?”

“I’m Thomas, nice to meet you,” the boy smiled and James’s heart jumped a beat – was he getting sick again? He mentally noted to ask his mother later – “are you reading about mockingbirds? I love them, d’ya know they can produce more than two-hundred different calls?”

“I didn’t know that.”

“So, can I read with you or not?”

James though it up for a moment, then shifted a bit to the side to make some space for the other boy, who had already forgotten about his sword-like stick and was now looking at the pages with eyes full of awe.

“This book is so beautiful!”

“D’you like books?”

“I love them.”

“Maybe we can be friends,” James shot a quick glance to the boy next to him, who instantly gave him another bright smile, “if you want to.”

“OK,” he beamed, “we’ll be great friends, you’ll see.”

* * *

“James!”

Madison kept his eyes closed, ignoring the knocking at his door – it was the coldest day of the year (and also a Sunday), he wouldn't leave his bed for any reason.

“Come on, Jamie, you promised!” the man on the other side of the door continued knocking, “how long are you planning to ignore me?”

“I’m not feeling well, Thomas –

“You only have a cold, it’s nothing serious, and you promised me we would go search for fossils today!”

“Damn you and your fossils,” James shout to the door, smiling, “last time we walked right into a lagoon, it’s too cold for it this time.”

“James I swear, if you don’t open the door I’ll –

“What?”

No one answered. James stood still for another couple of seconds, listening, but no sounds came. He silently got up and tip toed to the door, placing his ear on the wood, but still nothing. He unlocked the door and opened it –

“Hello darlin’,” his best friend’s voice came from behind him, making him jump out of fear.

“Thomas, how the hell did you…?” he didn’t finish the question, putting his hand onto his heart in a dramatic way, “you scared the hell out of me.”

“The windows – you always let them slightly open to ‘let the air change’ and don’t get sick,” he quoted.

“But this is the second floor.”

“And?”

“And?! You’ve already broken your wrist, I don’t want you to break your head as well,” James scolded him, but couldn’t hide his smile, “I’m not coming out today anyway – what if I get sick right before the wedding? Dolley would definitely kill me.”

At the mention of the wedding, Thomas’s eyes darkened and he moved away from Madison, facing the library instead; James instantly bit his lip, cursing himself – why was he always saying the wrong thing lately?

“Why don’t we stay inside for today? I can make some hot chocolate and we can write down something against Hamilton, it usually makes you happy to write bad things about him.”

“Ha-ha, as much as I love to dig some dirt on that hideous immigrant, this time you won’t distract me with that,” Thomas raised his eyebrow in a knowingly fashion and crossed his arms, “James, are you hundred percent sure about Dolley? I don’t think she –

“Thomas, we’ve talked about this, I’m going to marry her in two weeks,” James answered tiredly, sitting on his bed again after grabbing a random book.

“But you don’t have to!”

“Says who? I love her, Thomas, I can’t just let her go only because I made one mistake,” James muttered and casually opened the book, looking at the pages without really seeing them and trying to ignore the whole conversation.

“A mistake?” Jefferson turned to look at him with a hurt face, “I don’t think it was a mistake, Jamie, you confessed me your feelings.”

“I was drunk,” James groaned and angrily closed the book with a loud ‘pop’ before repeating the same thing he’d already said over and over again, “we'd been celebrating the whole day and I simply drank one too many.”

Thomas sighed and moved closer to his friend, trying to make him calm down – he was already having a fit of coughs after raising his voice.

“Jamie, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you,” he started again, “but you can’t just kiss your best friend and confess him your feelings and then simply ignore it by saying that you were drunk. I need to know if you really meant what you said.”

“Why do you need it so much?” James didn’t actually want to know the answer.

“You know why.”

“I don’t.”

“Because I can’t stand to see you marry a woman that you don’t really love,” Thomas looked away from him for a second, but then he suddenly seemed to gain some courage, “and I don’t want her to take you away from me.”

James stood silent for a moment – those were the words he had craved to hear his whole life. They were nine years old when they first met and he’d fallen in love with Thomas from the first moment he’d seen him smile. And now that he’d finally found the strength to go on and love someone else, his best friend had surprisingly discovered that he loved him too. It was so hilariously tragic that James almost burst into laughter.

“D’you know how long I have waited to hear these words?”

“You told me that you fell in love with me when we were kids,” Thomas said hesitantly, sitting at the very edge of an armchair, right in front of James, “but I’d never suspected it, Jamie, or it would have been so different -

“How could it have been different? You fell in love with a different girl every day and told me every one of your flirty adventures – how could I ever confess my feelings?”

Thomas didn’t answer but placed a hand on James’s, looking at him with sad and apologetic dark eyes.

“I had to step aside while watching you and Martha fall in love and get married, I had to make a toast at your marriage – I was honestly happy for you Thomas, because I wanted you to be happy, even with someone else,” James went on, tears rolling down his cheeks, “I’ve been there for you every day; I was there when Martha died, I was there when your children took their first steps, I waited so long before finally accepting that I was nothing more than a friend for you – a brother, and nothing more.”

“You have always been the most important person in my life, James, does it really matter that I didn’t see you in a romantic way? Well, I do now – please, don’t throw away our chance after all these years.”

“I – I’m sorry, Thomas, but I can’t,” James left Thomas’s hand and looked away, “I told you, the kiss was a mistake… and that’s true because I don’t love you in that way anymore.”

“I can’t truly believe it. You kissed me right after proposing to Dolley! And does it really matter that you’d been drinking? If so, it was even more meaningful then, it was your heart telling you that the person you really want is not her!”

“I was only scared, Thomas – she said yes,” James smiled softly at the memory of Dolley and Thomas let some warm tears escape his eyes, “I didn’t know what I was supposed to do after _that_ , I didn’t really think she’d say yes – it was a moment of weakness, and I’m sorry.”

James eventually gathered enough courage to look at his friend again, who was trying not to sound too desperate, but apparently was quite upset – they’d known each other for ages and James was able to read every emotion behind those deep black eyes. Thomas was drowning, completely lost, he didn’t know what to say or do anymore. He’d had the confirmation he wanted – James was over him, he loved Dolley and was sure about marrying her; he hadn’t really planned what to do after that. He stood there, crying silently and trying to ignore the perfect memory of their kiss. Now he also had flashes of a younger James looking at him and Martha from afar; a younger James crying himself to sleep because of his unreciprocated love; James waving him farewell when he’d gone to France; James waiting for his next letter for all those years they’d been apart…

“I – I’m sorry Jamie, I’ve been so stupid not to see it before,” Thomas sobbed, finding comfort in his best friend’s arms, “but I want you to be happy, no matter what – I'll be here for you, as you’ve always been here for me, I promise.”

“I know, Thomas, I’ll always be your friend – and you’ll never stop being the most important person for me,” James was crying now as well.

After another couple of minutes, Thomas finally drew away from James, feeling as if half of his heart had been ripped away from him in that very moment. He wiped away his tears, chuckling awkwardly, while James searched for his handkerchief and blew his nose.

“What about that hot chocolate?”

“Does it mean that we’re not going searching for fossils?”

“Not today, you won – but I want double cream on mine.”

“It’ll be done.”

“Oh, I’ve read another fact today – did you know that mockingbirds are extremely territorial and they attack even humans when they step too close to their nest? And then –

James smiled and rolled his eyes, listening to his friend passionately talking about mockingbirds while making hot chocolate for the two of them. They were not nine anymore and a lot had changed in their lives in all those years; however, every time he looked at Thomas, James would think that some things simply never change, and he loved that.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked the story, go check my other work "Mr Jefferson is coming home"! *huggs*


End file.
